John Oates has never been afraid of melding genres. In today's nostalgia-fueled echo chamber of internet discourse, his work as half of Hall & Oates is as lampooned as it is cherished, but all the Tweets in the world can't remove the fact that as a band, the pair were always evolving, always experimenting, and never afraid to bring new approaches and equipment to their records.

The smash hit "Maneater" is a telling example of this flexibility. We recently had the distinct honor of hosting Mr. Oates here at Reverb HQ as their summer tour moved through Chicago. He greeted us with a fresh, blues-infused version of the radio mainstay.

As he explained, the song originally carried more of a reggae feel, but in collaborating with Mr. Hall, the final more Motown meter took shape. Check out the above video for the complete story and performance.